[Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo Accessories] bob_beringer:
Plantronic's Discovery Series (665), NxZen, Jawbone, Jabra and others...

All,

Of all of the headsets that I have owned, the plantronic's discovery series and especially the 665 works the best in normal use environments (including loudness, clarity, DSP works great in generally semi-noisey environments).

The other models in the discovery line work well, but they don't have the same quality of DSP as the 665 (IMHO).

The voyager line also has the 855, which is cool in that it has an attachment for stereo use and a boom extension for clearer voice calls, while I love the longer battery life and the stereo music replay, I still don't like it as much as the 665 series.

I have purchased Gennum's NxZen and it works great for noise cancelation, it is soo much better than the Jawbone in its ability to cancel external noise, it also has the stereo music adapter and a software based EQ. The ability to cancel noise during calls is superb, but the problem is that it always sounds like the quality of the call is being processed by Dolby NR, even when you don't need it. So if you are on a job site or if the wind is too powerful for the Jawbone, then the NxZen is perfect, but for those of you who like crystal clear / in person like phone calls, the NxZen seems to be a bit extreme and always has low quality voice calls. It may sound harsh, but the fact is that when all of the other headsets don't work at all, at least you can count on the NxGen to work just as bad as it was when you didn't need noise cancelation. Again its a bit harsh, since ALL of the other headsets will give up on you and the only thing that you can count on is that the NxZen will not give up, that it will continue to work, it will continue to allow you to hear clearly processed sound and you will be able to carry on with your business calls as you need to do without seeking a quieter place to communicate.

As for the Jawbone, you have to love the loudness, clarity and styling of the Jawbone, but if you plan to pocket it when it is not in use, then expect that sooner or later you will be breaking and replacing the retaining clip and then it will make it a bit more difficult to use, without holding your headset to your ear all the time. It is also without the stereo adapter that you can find in both the 855 and the NxZen. For normal users who don't pocket their headsets and who don't work in terribly normal environments the Jawbone is a champ. Take into account that it is also a bit heavier and bulkier than the 665.

The one headset that I hated was the Jabra JX10 (its been a while now, so I believe it was the series one edition). It didn't clear up any noise for me and it always seemed full of static on my athena with 1.47 and below radio stacks. It was the only headset that I ever took back to the place of purchase.

The other headsets that I started out with were the Motorola, but I couldn't find any of them that were loud enough or that had enough clarity. Or get this, I would hear the motorola's breaking up and loosing quality when I would swing my arms back and forth when walking down the street and talking on the phone. I have since sworn off using motorola products at all. I especially hated the bluetooth speakerphone that they sell, it was much worse than using the built-in speakers on the Athena to begin with.

I have used several other headsets and have multiple copies of each, but thought that the community would appreciate hearing about my experiences with these.

Other tools and utilities that help with M$ Voice Command were BTAudio and Bluecast, my personal preference was Bluecast and I hope that this information helps you all...

v/r

Bob